Exam 2 Flashcards
how many primate species are there?
about 230 species
how many primate families
about 13 families
what are primates?
vertebrates, warm-blooded, tetrapods (four limbs), produce milk, have hair
defining behavioral traits for primates
arboreal adaptations, dietary plasticity, parental investment, prolonged growth periods
arboreal
living in trees
what adaptations help primates be arboreal?
joint mobility, clavical bone acts as strut, arm mobility, opposable thumb
power grip
the palm grips an object, while the fingers and thumb wrap around the object from opposite sites
precision grip
the thumb and 1+ fingertips provide fine grasping
five types of vertebrae
cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal
primates have a ___ shaped spine. humans have a ____ shaped spine
primates have a C shaped spine
humans have a S shaped spine
dermal ridges
enhance tactile sense, friction, and resistance to slipping, enhanced sense of touch
stereoscopic vision
depth perception caused by front facing eyes
postorbital bar
bar in the skull going over the eye, allows for the back and front to be exposed
rhinarium
wet pad at the end of the nose, most primates lack these
orthognathic face
flat face from the lack of a rhinarium and therefore a shortened snout. usually resulting in a reduced sense of smell
prognathic face
protruding snout with a pronounced rostrum (lemurs)
dental formula
four numbers depicting the numbers of incisors, canines, premolards, and molars in one quadrant of the mouth (humans: 2.1.2.3), often reflects high dietary plasticity and diversity
bilophodont dentition
four cusps on each upper and lower molar situated on two ridges (old world monkeys)
tooth comb
lower incisors that are elongated, crowded, and project forward. seen in lemurs, lorises, and galagos, helps with grooming
non-honing canine
canine appears similar to a pointed incisor and functions similarly (seen in humans and thei hominin ancestors)
canin-premolar honing complex
the upper and lower canines rest in a tooth gap (seen in all other primates)
sectorial
the lower third premolar has a single cusp with a sharp cutting edge, like a small canine
how are primate parental investment different from other mammals?
female primates give birth to few offspring and birth spacing intervals are long. mothers spend more time provisioning offspring with food and teaching social behavior
how are primate brains differnt from other mammals?
larger relative to body size. more gyri and sulci for more socially complex primates, parts of the brain associated with smell and hearing are relatively small
if the 230+ species are expanded to subspecies, there are how many primate
600 primates
Traditional (gradistic) primate taxonomy
based on anatomical complexity, ignores ancestral relationships
cladistic (phylogenetic)
combined anatomical and genetic evidence, attempts to reconstruct ancestral relationships
two suborders of Traditional
Prosimii and Anthropoidea
two suborders of Cladistic
Strepsirrhini and Haplorrhini
clade
a group within a given taxonomic level. contains all groups at mroe specific levels nested within that group, all sharing a common ancestor
primitive trait
a trait that is retained and inherited from an ancestor
derived trait
a trait that ahs emreged since a clade descended from a common ancestor
Strepsirrhini
closely resemble the most recent common ancestor of all primates
all Strepsirrhini have…
rhinarium, prognathic face, enlarged nasal passages, large olfactory bulb in the brain, scent glands, dental comb, “toilet claw”
how do Strepsirrhini communicate?
distinctive calls, scent marking with urine
Lorisoidea
subfamily of Strepsirrhini, lives in forest of India and Southeast Asia, noctural
Lemuroidea
subfamily of Strepsirrhini, Madagascar
Haplorrhini
larger brains than Strepsirrhini, more sexual dimporphism
Tarsiiforms
one of two haplorrhine suborder, small nocturnal, toilet claw
tarsier
elongated tarsal (foot) bones, helps with leaping
Anthropoidea
one of two haplorrhine suborder, monkeys, apes ,humans
Anthropoidea characterists
large body sizes and large brains, diurnal, arboreal but adaptations to terrestrial life, small closely spaces eyes
Platyrrhini
one of two Anthropoidea parvorders, new world monkeys
Platyrrhini characterists
defined by broad noses with nostrils that face out to the side, small, prehensile tails
Catarrhini
one of two Anthropoidea parvorder, Old World Monkeys
Catarrhini characterists
no prehensile tails, ischial callosity (used for social signaling)
Hominoidea
Superfamily of Hominoidea, apes and humans
Hominoidea characteristics
most orthognathic faces among primates, most are arboreal but spend time on ground, lack a tail
Pogninae
within genus Pongo, high sexual dimorphism in body size, solitary social structure
Gorillinae
genus Gorilla, largest primate, large social groups and sexual dimporphism, closely related to chimpanzees and humans that orangutans
Panini
one genus, Pan. Knuckle-Walking, chimpanzees and bonobos
hominini
homo sapiens, largest brain relative to body size highly orthognathic faces and small teeth, little hair, limited sexual dimorphism
changes in human skeleton
s-shaped spine, foramen mognum located at the bottom of the skull, pelvis is compressed and oriented laterally, femures are oriented towards the body midline
what are primates most closely related to?
Order Dermoptera- the colugos “flying lemurs”
Jane Goodall
1st person to perform prolonged observations of wild chimpanzees
what did Jane Goodalls work establish?
chimpanzees are highly intelligent, form strong social bonds between mothers and offspring and between siblings, use sticks and leaves as tools, hunted animals (including other primates)
primate social behavior takes many forms
hugging, touching, lip smacking, vocalizing, greeting, grooming, scent marking, mouthing, mounting
social behavior in primates is assumed to be,,,
adaptive (used to enhance survival, can predict lifespan)
residence pattern
the pattern by which each sex either stays with a social group or disperses to a new group after reaching sexual maturity
six general residence patterns in primates
1) one male, multifemale
2) one female, multimale
3) multifemale, multimale
4) all male
5) one female, one male
6) solitary
one male, multifemale
“harem”, polygynous, male offspring disperse after reaching sexual maturity, typical of orangutans, gorillas, howler monkeys, and some catarrhine
one female, multimale
polyandrous, many (not all) female offspring disperse after reaching sexual maturity, alloparenting, only present in some platyrrhines
alloparenting
adult males contribute to offspring provisioning
multifemale, multimale
promiscuous mating, low mate competition, chimpanzees, some platyrrhines, many catarrhines
all male
“Bacherlor troupes” temporary groups in some species, associated with alliances
one female, one male
monogamous, norm in hylobatids
solitary
interactions between males and females ONLY during mating, orangutans, lorises, and galagos
sexual dimorphism
a physical indicator of how reproductive strategies typically vary between males and females in primates
sexual selection
reproductive benefits accrue when males can successfully intimidate or fight competitors, or when females prefer these traits (large canines and body size in males)
infanticide
common in primates. Linked to residence patterns where dispersing males enter a new social group with existing offspring
Dominance Hierarchies
hierarchies determined by the ability to intimidate or defeat another individual in a pairwise interaction
male dominance hierarchies
established through a series of aggressive encounters. ranks often increase with age until a point where injuries or senescence inhibit the ability to compete
female dominance hierarchies
strongly determined by inheritance. ranks are passed down through matrilines (mother to daughter), and older females do not necessarily lose their status
examples of cooperation
hunt, grooming, warning signals, food sharing
kin selection
may explain cooperation. related male chimpanzee males will patrol territory borders and attack/kill foreign males that wander into the territory
why is cooperation so widespread among primates?
Susanne Schultz says it is because cooperation is a response to being preyed upon
food quality
food must have adequate energy and protein that are digestible
food distribution
the location of food is key to reducing energy expended during foraging
food availability
seasonal fluctuations in food can become a serious problem. seasonal fluctuations in food availability tend to be lower near the equator
how do chimpanzees demonstrate a capacity for abstract thinking?
crack open nuts with rocks, use a sharp stone tool to cut a cord connected a box with food, make crud stone tools, and taught all of this to other chimpanzees
local cultural traditions
chimpanzee tool use is localized
communication in primates
communication is not as advanced as humans, but they are still complex and varied, social and ecological information. individual patterns of communication
Dorthy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth
primatologists who recorded infant vervet monkeys. mothers recognized infant specific calls
how do primates communicate
grunts, pants, hoots, screams, barks (maybe when encountering food)
affixation
adding a prefix or suffix to a sound to modify the meaning of the
Kanzi
chimpanzee who learnt lexigrams and could understand human language
human skeleton is made up of…
bones, cartilage, and teeth
teeth are made up of,,,
enamel, dentine, cementum, and a pulp chamber
bones and cartilage
connective tissues with organic and inorganic components
organic component that makes up bones and cartilage
collagen
collagen
fibrils of proteins arranged in a triple helix
inorganic components that make up bones and tissue
hydroxy(1)apatite
“bioapatite”
calcium phosphate
what makes bones resilient
collagen provides tensile strength and apatite provides torional strength
the crown of the tooth
visible above the gum line. anchored to alveolar bone through the root and periodontal ligament
cartilage
softest skeletal tissue. serves as a shock absorber and prevents bone surfaces from rubbing against each other
axial skeleton
skull and ribcage (center)
appendicular skeleton
limbs (arms, legs, collarbone, pelvis)
superior vs inferior
top vs bottom skeleton
right lateral vs left lateral
your right and left limps
anterior vs posterior
front vs back
coronal plane
cut front from back
sagittal plane
cut right from left
transverse plane
cut top from bottom
proximal
limbs moving closer to the body
distal
limbs moving away from the body
dorsal
back of hand and foot
palmar
palm of the hand
plantar
bottom of the foot
long bones
only found in the appendicular skeleton. comprised of a diaphysis and two or more epiphyses
flat bones
found in the skull, shoulder, and pelvis
sesamoid bones
found in the wrist, ankles, and knees. approximately equal in length, width, and thickness
foramen
a hole that goes from the exterior to interior bone surface
fossa
a depressed surface, usually adjacent to a muscle attachment site or where an adjacent bone articulates
process
a protusion
condyle
an articular surface that allows movement along one or two anatomical planes
head
a spherical on the ends of some long bones, provides maximum movement
sutures
joins the bones that make up the brain case
parts of the ribcage
ribs, costal cartilage, sternum
parts of the arm
humerus, ulma, radius
parts of the hand
phalanges, metacarpals
parts of the pelvic girdle
innominate, sacrum, coccyx
parts of the legs
femur, patella, tibia, fibula
parts of the feet
phalanges and metatarsals
geologic time
necessary to organize events in Earth’s history
strata
segments of time correspond to stata with uneven global distributions
strata record information about…
changes in earth’s climate and atmosphere and changes in biotic communities
phases of geologic time
eon, era, period, epoch, age
what geologic time do we live in?
Meghalayan Age of the Holocene Epoch, within the Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era, all within the Phanerozoic Eon
Hadean Eon
Formation of Earth and its crust, origin of life on Earth
Archean Eon
first bacteria, oldest observed Earth rocks
Proterozoic Eon
earliest known multicellular life, very earliest animals at the end
Phanerozoic Eon
widespread evidence for complex multicellular life
Phanerozoic Era is divided by
catastrophic extinctions
paleozoic era
Cambrian Explosion, first terrestrial plants and animals
Mesozoic Era
Begins with End Permian Extinction, era of dinosaurs
Cenozoic Era
“recent life”, begins with K/T Extinction, rapid diversification of mammals
Paleogene Period
adaptive radiation of birds and mammals, diversification of marine mammals
neogene period
earliest hominins
Quaternary Period
cold glacial cycles, rapid climate transitions, emergence of modern humans
Pleistocene epoch
the “ice age”, diversification of large mammals, large ice sheets, humans occupy all continents but Antarctica
Holocene Epoch
rapid growth of human populations, much warmer temperatures
Pleistocene-Holocene Transition
about 10,000 year climatic transition, general warming but includes cold reversals. mass extinction, predominantly large animals
Greenlandian Age
“Early Holocene”, steady warming trend, recession of ice sheets, rising sea levels
Northgrippian Age
“Middle Holocene”, ice sheets gone, hot and erratic climates in northern hemisphere
Meghalayan Age
“Late Holocene”, begins with a multi century drought across southern Asia
Anthropocene
proposed new epoch following the Holocene, starts at maybe 1950 hand in hand with nuclear testing
fossil
any trace of biological life left in the geological record. petrified organic tissues
subfossils
biological material that is being incorporated into the geological record
what are the most common tissues to survive?
teeth and bones, typically found in sedimentary deposits or rocks formed from time transgressive pressure on these deposits
Ichnology
the study of fossil footprints
how does fossilization occur
rapid burial, very wet anoxic conditions, dry conditions, or cold conditions that inhibit bacterial activities, peats, desert caves, and permafrost, alluvial systems and volcanic eruptions
bog bodies
from peat bogs in northern europe, soft tissue preservation
Otzi the Iceman
died in the Alps about 5180, preservation due to cold weather
Taphonomy
“Burial Laws”, things that could interfere with learning about a fossil. organism’s journey through stages, relies on uniformitarianism
relative dating
ordering events in time
absolute dating
events on a calendrical timescale
Law of superposition
Nicolaus Steno. youngest strata on top of older strata
stratigraphic correlation
strata are discontinuous across landscapes. they can be matched based on similarities to understand the relative sedimentary sequence across broad geographic scales
Index fossils
fossils occur in discrete strata corresponding to ranges of time and can therefore serve as temporal markers for
Fluorine dating
geochemical. bone absorbs from sediments
obsidian hydration dating
geochemical. obsidian developed a rind with exposure to water, thickness corresponds to age
Dendrochronology
AE Douglass, relies on trees with annual growth rings. thickness of rings varies due to interannual variation in temp and precipitation
downsides of dendrochronology
not all regions have suitable tree species, oldest chronology only goes back about 13,000 years
radiometric dating
relies on the decay of radioactive isotopes. requires a known half life and a zeroing event
types of radiometric dating
radiocarbon dating, Uranium-lead dating, Potassium-argon dating, radionuclide dating
radiocarbon dating
Willard Libby, measured time since organism died. 14C decays to 14N, but living organism have ratio 14C:12C. after death, ration declines
downside of radiocarbon dating
not very useful for studying most human evolution. sample back 55,000 years before 14C becomes too sparse to accurately measures. can only be used on organic remains . zero point is unstable (ratio has changed throughout time)
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)
quartz crystals form electron traps, flushed when exposed to light. measures the time since quartz grains were exposed to light
Thermoluminescence
electron traps flushed when exposed to temps 300-450 C. used to measure when quartz grains were last heated to these temps (Igneous rocks, fired pottery)
Arboreal Hypothesis
proposed by Sir Grafton Elliot Smith and Frederic Wood Jones
large brains and better vision needed to navigate three-dimensional space
visual predation hypothesis
Matt Cartmill. traits favored for predation on insects
Angiosperm Radiation hypothesis
Robert Sussmqn. more plants evolving to produce fruit, favored animals that live in canopy (grasping hands and good eyesight)
what primate is thought to be the first Anthropoid?
Archicebus achilles, but it looks like both tarsiiform and anthropoid (foot and ankle bones of a monkey, skull of tarsier)
basal anthropoids
emerged during the mid Eocene, earliest Anthropoid lineage that gave rise to modern Anthropoid
Eosimias
“dawn monkey”, discovered in China, about 42 mya. heel bones looks a lot like other Anthropoid
Biretia
a later basal anthropoid (about 37 mya), discovered in Egypt. teeth resembles modern Anthropoid
three anthropoid groups that the fayum depression has yielded
oligopithecids, parapithecids, and propliopithecids
oligopithecids
date as early as 35 mya, at the every end of the Eocene
parapithecids
found only in Oligocene, 2.1.3.3 dental formula like platyrrhine monkeys
propliopithecids
found only in Oligocene, 2.1.2.3. dental formula like catarrhine monkeys
Aegyptopithecus
one of the largest Oligocene Fayum primates. sagittal crest but smaller brain, maybe ancestor to all catarrhines
Rukwapithecus fleaglei
earliest known ape, represented by only a mandible and teeth
Nsungwepithecus gennelli
earliest known cercopithecoir (old world monkey), represented by only a mandible fragment and single molar
perupithecus
oldest known platyrrhine, only known from fossil molars found in Peru, date is unclear
Branisella
second oldest Platyrrhine, dated 26mya in mid Oligocene, found in Bolivia. three premolars with a four-cusp chewing surface
four hypothesis for how Anthropoids got to South America
1) southward migration from North America
2) A direct Atlantic crossing from Africa (most likely)
3) An Atlantic crossing from Africa, with Antarctica as a stopping point (most likely)
4) Independent origins in Africa and South America
proconsulids
an early group of apes in the early Miocene
Dryopithecids
a clade of great ape that emerged in Europe in the mid Miocene, about the size of a chimpanzee, larger brains, forelimbs adapted to hanging and swinging
oreopithecids
succeeded the Dryopithecids, existing into the late Miocene. leaf eaters, small brain, long arms with dexterous fingers
sivapithecids
mid to late Miocene in Asia. think tooth enamel and robust jaws adapted to eating nuts and seeds. cranial features resemble orangutans
Gigantopithecus blacki
the largest primate that ever lived. existed from 8mya to 300 kya, well into late pleistocene. about 10 feet tall and up to 660 lb